1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a substitute for edible oil and fat, which renders possible achievement of low oil content and low calorie foods mainly including bakery products in the field of food.
2. Discussion of the Background
Development of low oil and fat food for a large number of people under excess oil and fat ingestion condition have been required and actually various substitutes for oil and fat have been produced. These substitutes for oil and fat are roughly divided into use of a hardly digestible substance having oily properties and a case in which the properties of oil and fat are supplied by increasing the water content and adding other processed substance to the aqueous phase.
Typical examples for the former case include a sucrose fatty acid ester, trade name Olestra, manufactured by P and G. However, since oil soluble vitamins essential for the living body are dissolved into these substances and excreted as such, they have problems such as the limitation in the amount of ingestion.
As examples for the latter case, substances in a w/o type emulsion form having considerably large water content and using an emulsifying agent have been proposed (JP-A-01-120248, JP-A-01-187051, JP-A-01-187052; the term xe2x80x9cJP-Axe2x80x9d as used herein means an xe2x80x9cunexamined published Japanese patent applicationxe2x80x9d). Since these substances use a condensed recinoleic acid ester as a strong w/o type emulsifying agent and this emulsifying agent has a peculiar flavor, they have problems such as no applicability to the products having flavor as an important factor.
In addition, certain substances having the palate reception characteristics of fat by dispersing a substance derived from starch or polysaccharide, a microcrystalline cellulose or a fine-structured protein in the water phase have been proposed. Their illustrative examples include a fine cellulose-containing food composition described in JP-A-06-335365, an ionic polysaccharide/protein micro-fragment complex dispersion described in a Japanese national phase publication No. JP-A-03-505814, a proteinous water-dispersible macro-colloid comprised of non-coagulating particles of milk cow whey protein (trade name Simplex) described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,287 and a hydrophobic protein such as prolamin described in JP-A-04-502102.
The term xe2x80x9cpalate reception characteristics of fatxe2x80x9d as used herein means tastes such as creaminess and smoothness. The above substances can be used in certain food where oil and fat take a role to add creamy and smooth tastes, such as mayonnaise, butter cream, cream filling, dressing and spread, but it is difficult to expect a shortness effect in bakery products, namely an effect to bake bread having fine texture through large expansion of bread at the time of fermentation and baking.
In addition, as described in JP-A-02-242656 (JP-B-7-28696; the term xe2x80x9cJP-Bxe2x80x9d as used herein means an xe2x80x9cexamined Japanese patent publicationxe2x80x9d), there is a low calorie fat substitute composition in which poly-dextrose or cellulose is coated with fat. This substance has a calorie value of from about 1.5 kcal/g to 6 kcal/g, but the calorie value is still high. When a fat-coated powdery cellulose substance was produced by a method described in this document (a method according to Example 3) at a ratio of cellulose (average particle size 10 microns)/fat=1/1 which seemed to have most lower oil absorption, its oil absorption was 49.7 g. (Definition of the oil absorption will be described later.)
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,1194,270, there is a case to produce a low calorie oil and fat composition by dispersing calcium citrate in a vegetable oil, and it describes that a substitute having a viscosity similar to the solid fat can be produced in this case by preparing plate crystals of calcium citrate by a special method and dispersing the crystals in liquid oil. However, since the plate crystals are used by dispersing (from 0.1 to 35% by weight) in oil and fat, the calorie reduction is low.
Also, since water solubility of calcium citrate crystals is 0.1 g at 25xc2x0 C., their dispersibility in water is markedly high, and it has been revealed that their xe2x80x9coil absorptionxe2x80x9d which will be described later is markedly higher than the value specified by the present invention so that their hydrophilic nature is fairly high. In addition, even calcium citrate in which 1.5% of stearic acid was-adhered to the surface showed an oil absorption of 60 g. Also, calcium citrate in which 10% of stearic acid was adhered to the surface showed an oil absorption of 48 g. Based on these results, it was revealed that calcium citrate is a substance which hardly forms a hydrophobic surface.
As a result of a baking test using such crystals, the effect to bake bread having fine texture through large expansion of bread at the time of fermentation and baking was not found.
The shape of commercially available calcium citrate was observed under an electron microscope, and found that it was not a plate crystal but a three-dimensional shape. Since it is known that hydrophobic substances are generally difficult to be adhered to the surface of plate crystals, it is assumed that the calcium citrate plate crystal of this document is a substance which more hardly forms a hydrophobic surface.
In this connection, JP-A-2000-23626 (Riken Vitamin) discloses a xe2x80x9chardly soluble mineral composition having excellent dispersion stability in liquid substance, in which an emulsifying agent having an HLB value of 6 or less is blended with a slightly soluble mineralxe2x80x9d. This is a composition in which water dispersibility is improved by the adhesion of hydrophilic moiety of an emulsifying agent having an HLB value of 6 or less to the surface of slightly soluble mineral particles, which seems to be considerably larger than the oil absorption of 35 g as defined in the present invention, so that this invention is different from that of the present invention.
An object of the present invention is to provide a substitute for oil and fat, which has no peculiar flavor, does not extract fat-soluble vitamins from the body and has a shortness effect in bakery products, namely an effect to bake bread having fine texture through large expansion of bread at the time of fermentation and baking, as well as food articles such as bread products which contain the substitute for oil and fat.
The invention includes each of the following embodiments regarding substitutes for oil and fat having excellent characteristics as described in the foregoing and food products containing the same.
(1) A substitute for edible oil and fat, which comprises fine particles having an average particle size of 250 microns or less and a surface hydrophobic degree of 35 g or less, preferably 25 g or less, more preferably 20 g or less, as the oil absorption measured by the oil absorption assay method of JIS K6223.
(2) The substitute for edible oil and fat according to the item (1), wherein the fine particles have an average particle size of 250 microns or less, preferably 150 microns or less, more preferably 2.5 microns or less.
(3) The substitute for edible oil and fat according to the item (1) or (2), wherein the fine particles having an average particle size of 250 microns or less comprise fine particles of inorganic or organic substance and a hydrophobia substance adhered to the surface thereof.
(4) The substitute for edible oil and fat according to any one of the items (1) to (3), wherein the fine particles having an average particle size of 250 microns or leas comprise a hardly water-soluble substance having a solubility of 0.05 g or less in 100 ml of water at 25xc2x0 C.
(5) The substitute for edible oil and fat according to the item (3) or (4), wherein the fine-particles having an average particle size of 250 microns or less comprise at least one substance selected from the group consisting of calcium carbonate, calcium tertiary phosphate, calcium secondary phosphate, magnesium carbonate and aluminum hydroxide.
(6) The substitute for edible oil and fat according to any one of the items (1) to (5), wherein the fine particles have three-dimensional shape.
(7) The substitute for edible oil and fat according to any one of the items (1) to (6), wherein the fine particles have spherical shape.
(8) A food which comprises the substitute for edible oil and fat according to any one of the items (1) to (7).
(9) A bakery product which comprises the substitute for edible oil and fat according to any one of the items (1) to (7).